Golden State-Cleveland was no Christmas classic, but still, give us more!

This remains one of the NBA’s great rivalries and even though James Harden is a deserving MVP front-runner at this point, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the league’s premier talents.

This corner doesn’t see any team beating a healthy Warriors squad, but like when Michael Jordan played, anything is possible when a team has someone as good as James. Whether you rank James second-best ever, first, fifth … nobody can debate his place in the Top 10 and we’re not sure how you don’t place him in the Top 5.

His teams will always have a chance and they gave a Warriors team that is nearly unbeatable in Oakland a game on Christmas Day, leading after the first quarter and never down more than nine points, even though the franchise has only had one worse shooting night from two-point range and despite the fact that James didn’t play well (but he definitely was fouled at the end by Durant). Yes, the Warriors didn’t have Stephen Curry, but the Cavs played without Isaiah Thomas, Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose and the bench shot just 6-for-26.

The teams will meet again on Jan. 15 in Ohio and there’s a decent chance both squads will finally be fully healthy for that battle.

Oklahoma City looked like the biggest disappointment of the season early on, but has rallied nicely, with Carmelo Anthony finally settling into the complementary role he is more suited for at this stage of his career.

Even when the Thunder struggled, the analytics indicated this was a solid squad, just one that played horribly in the biggest moments. OKC lost its first five games decided by six points or fewer, but has responded with wins in 9-of-10 close games since, including the Christmas Day upset of Houston.

As a result, Russell Westbrook’s crew is now only a couple of games back of Minnesota for the West’s final homecourt playoff spot in the first round.

Why is that particularly important? The Thunder is 13-4 at home, a dismal 6-11 away.

RATINGS BONANZA

The NFL might be bleeding viewers, but the NBA freight train keeps on gaining steam.

ESPN and ABC said Christmas viewership was up 39% over last year and Philadelphia-New York drew the most viewers for a Noon ET game since 2012.

OKC-Houston pulled in the best numbers for a Prime Time game on the 25th since 2003.

While the NFL still pulls in a lot more eyeballs in the United States, that league’s popularity is sagging at a time when basketball continues to get bigger.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that NBA ratings are up 20% overall from 2016-17 and are the best since the Miami Heat superteam captured the public’s attention in 2010-11.

WHO DA MAN?

Breakout star of the Christmas slate of games?

Kyle Kuzma scored 31 points, becoming the first rookie to notch at least 30 on Christmas since LeBron in 2003. Kuzma also did something Kobe Bryant never accomplished: Score 30 three times as a rookie for the Lakers (Magic Johnson did it four times).

Kuzma’s now averaging better than 21 points over his past 10 games. Not bad for the 27th pick of the 2017 draft (acquired with Brook Lopez for D’Angelo Russell in a shrewd bit of work by Los Angeles).

Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored 20 and only missed two shots. He’s second in the entire league in three-point percentage (50%, behind only George Hill).

Both of the rookies have been solid all year and now a lot more people know about them because so many people watched them play on Christmas.

Joel Embiid was great in Philadelphia’s win over New York, however, Embiid is a flamboyant personality and everybody knows who he is at this point, so, we’ll go with Karl-Anthony Towns as the holiday breakout star.

Towns (with a big assist from Jimmy Butler) has Minnesota sitting fourth in the West (despite a rough season from Andrew Wiggins).

Towns is rightly known for possessing one of the most complete offensive games in basketball – he can drain threes like a shooting guard, or dominate inside – but he stood out on Monday at the other end of the floor, recording two crucial blocks to snuff out any final Los Angeles thoughts of stealing a victory. Towns finished with four rejections, hauled in a game-best 10 rebounds and was +18, also the best mark on either team.

Towns will be one of the faces of the NBA for years to come.

AROUND THE RIM

Speaking of awful road records, injury-ravaged Utah was just 3-13 away (all records and stats prior to Tuesday’s games), one of the worst marks in the NBA, yet remained in the race for the West’s final playoff spot, just behind Portland and New Orleans. The Jazz also just unveiled perhaps the most distinctive uniforms in the NBA, bright gold and deep burgundy creations that will certainly stand out … Milwaukee enquired about centres JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia. Golden State has moved rookie Jordan Bell into the starting spot and the Bucks lost Greg Monroe in the Eric Bledsoe deal, so the idea makes some sense, though John Henson is playing well … Golden State is 20-0 when quasi-centre Draymond Green records a triple-double. Per ESPN, Magic Johnson (24) and Wilt Chamberlain (21) are the only players to record longer triple-double win streaks. Green became only the sixth player to turn the trick on Christmas Day and only the third since 1971.

FIVE UP

Five surging squads (before Tuesday’s games)

1 Oklahoma City Thunder – Posting offensive numbers even the mighty Warriors would be impressed with over past four (4-0, 117.7 points per 100 possessions).

3 Minnesota Timberwolves – Finally playing passable defence, but rampaging offence, one that is overpowering foes inside, is the real story.

4 Washington Wizards – Things were looking dicey, but John Wall is feeling better (thought still not 100%) and the ball is zinging around beautifully.

5 Denver Nuggets – No Nikola Jokic some nights, no Paul Millsap every night, yet they beat the Warriors in Oakland and Blazers at Portland and nearly knock off OKC, a home juggernaut.

FIVE DOWN

1 Orlando Magic– What a disaster. Nikola Vucevic was the fourth member of the starting lineup to go down long-term. Can’t shoot. Can’t guard anyone.

2 Portland Trail Blazers – Damian Lillard is important! One of NBA’s top attacks crumbled without the brilliant floor general. Luckily, Lillard could return as early as Thursday.

3 L.A. Lakers – Lonzo Ball and Brook Lopez are hurt, the players are testy, the season is already lost, but, hey, they have Kyle Kuzma and that’s good.

4 Utah Jazz – Defence has fallen apart without Rudy Gobert, who is hurt yet again. With offence in shambles as well it’s a wonder how Utah has remained in playoff race.

5 Houston Rockets – From first in the other category a week ago, to a team that can’t guard anymore and has seen Chris Paul and Clint Capela hobbled, things can change quickly. They’ll be fine.

HOLLYWOOD DRAMA

Things aren’t going well in Lakers land.

A run of injuries, particularly to flashy rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and young swingman Brandon Ingram, hasn’t helped, but it’s more the unsteady state of the franchise that is causing some current issues.

Los Angeles is 3-12 over its last 15 games and the always outspoken Andrew Bogut admitted that the players are frustrated after a home loss to Portland on Saturday night.

And why wouldn’t they be? It’s no secret that ownership has set its sights on bringing the show back to Staples Center by adding a superstar or two next summer.

If the Lakers let Julius Randle, Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk, find a taker for either Jordan Clarkson or, unrealistically, Luol Deng, the team can open up enough cap space for two massive contracts. LeBron James is the top target.

In the meantime though, quality young players are left to wonder about how expendable they are.

“Everyone knows what is going on with the salary-cap situation next season and all that. That is just distractions that we can’t let affect us,” Bogut said, via ESPN.

“That is part of the league, the business decisions that front offices and coaches make. So if that is distracting guys, that is going to be like that your whole career. That is just the nature of this league.”

Maybe, but it isn’t usually this transparent and wacky. Most teams are happy to have quality youth and most don’t have legitimate shots at landing James, Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins or other perennial all-stars.

“We make light about it, we laugh about it, but you just can’t let it affect you,” Bogut said.

“It is hard to tell young guys, 18, 19, 20 that come from a great college environment that are usually great cultures, that are built on team-first, and then you come into a situation like this sometimes where, kind of, guys don’t know if they are coming or going.”

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